


Burnt Sugar

by HansonPhreek



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Kissing Booths, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7732723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HansonPhreek/pseuds/HansonPhreek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The new Hogwarts Headmistress decides to have the students throw an Inter-House Unity Fair. But when Gryffindor runs out of ideas for stalls, Ginny comes to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burnt Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I own nothing but this story. I make no money from it.

The whole of Gryffindor House was gathered in the common room on the first Friday of the new school year. “McGonagall wants us to do _what_?” one of the fourth years asked.

Hermione sighed. “ _Headmistress_ McGonagall,” she corrected. She was standing in front of the fireplace with the rest of the Gryffindor Eighth-year's (who had been given the option of returning to repeat their last year of schooling), explaining what the new Headmistress had planned for them all. “OK. This is the last time I’m going over this, so listen carefully. The Headmistress has planned a series of Inter House Unity events, the first of which is a fair that will take place in four weeks. Each house will be required to create and run five stalls.”

There was much murmuring amongst the students, but Hermione cut over them as she continued. “Now. The Eighth-years have been put in charge of organizing and overseeing their houses.” She paused. “We need to come up with some original ideas.” Hermione waved her wand and a small wooden box appeared on the table in front of her. “You have until dinner on Monday to submit your ideas in this box, then we will sort through them and hold a vote to choose our stalls.” She took a breath and braced herself. “Any questions?”

There was more murmuring from the assembled students, but it appeared that no one had any questions for the bushy-haired girl. Ron turned to his best-friend-turned-girlfriend and asked, “Why do we have to be in charge?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Because we’re the oldest students,” she explained, sounding like she was talking to a small child. “And the Headmistress told us to be.” Hermione looked around at the other Eighth-years, all of whom seemed rather reluctant. She gave Harry a look that clearly said “Do something!”

“Come on guys,” Harry said, smiling. “It’ll be fun!” The group of friends all frowned at him. “OK, but it’ll be something new. And the younger students seem to be really excited about it.”

Harry was right. They all looked around and saw how excited the rest of the Gryffindors looked. They were all animatedly talking about ideas they had for various stalls and wondering what the other houses were going to do. Slowly the rest of the Eighth-years nodded their acceptance.

Hermione smiled. “Good. Now, since we’re all over age and don’t really have to be here, we’ve been granted special permission to go to Hogsmeade whenever we please. We’ll meet in the Three Broomsticks for dinner on Monday and go over all the suggestions.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday evening brought the Gryffindor Eighth-years making their way to the Three Broomsticks. Harry, Ron and Hermione led the small group of friends down the path to Hogsmeade. As they walked they saw another set of people moving their direction. Harry realized with a start that it was Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini.

While Harry had known that they were at Hogwarts that year, he had not yet interacted with any of the Slytherins. It seemed that most of them, or the eldest ones at least, had decided to keep a low profile that year. Harry suddenly found it odd that he and Draco hadn’t fought yet. He decided this was a welcome change.

As the Gryffindors neared the other students Harry heard Hermione whisper, “Be nice”. He assumed she was talking to Ron, whose frown deepened with those words. Finally, Draco drew level with Harry and the brunet braced himself for the inevitable harsh words the blond would throw his way.

“Potter.”

“Malfoy.”

And then they had passed. Harry’s brow furrowed. That was it? Draco wasn’t going to make fun of his hair or his upbringing or something? The other Slytherins weren’t going to call Hermione names or lash out at Neville? They were just going to walk quietly by? It was all just a bit strange to Harry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they had arrived at the pub and been served drinks and some food, Hermione set them to work. She opened the small box, which she had spelled shut so that only she could open it, and began sorting through all the suggestions. She separated them into categories and eliminated some of the crazier ideas. Then she handed piles of ideas to each person at the table and called the group to order.

“All right. We’ll take turns reading off the suggestions and then compile a list of our top ten choices. Then we can have the rest of Gryffindor vote on those.” Hermione looked up and down the table, making sure that they all appeared to understand. “I’ll start.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the Gryffindor Common Room later that evening the Eighth-years gathered the rest of their house together. “It’s time to vote! We’ll be passing out ballots and all you have to do is choose your five favorite options.” As Hermione spoke, the rest of her year passed out small bits of parchment.

The students spent a few minutes filling out their ballots before Hermione waved her wand and the parchment all flew across the room. They landed in a neat pile on the table in the far corner of the room. She led her friends over to the table where they proceeded to tally the votes.

“We have a problem,” Hermione announced some time later. “We’ve only got four stalls figured out.”

Seamus looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well it seems that everyone voted for the same stalls. But they each only voted for four instead of five,” Hermione explained.

“So we’ll just pick the fifth one ourselves,” Dean suggested.

Hermione frowned. “No, it needs to be something the whole house agrees on.” The rest of the eighth years frowned right along with her. “We need some new ideas.” She looked around the table at her friends, all deep in thought. They remained this way for some time but no one had any ideas.

“Ok, for now we’ll just split up and get to work on these four,” Hermione told them all.   
“Seamus and Dean can take care of the Dunk Tank. Lavender and Parvati can do the Animal Race. Ron and Neville can do the Spin to Win Wheel. And I’ll take the Ring Toss. We’ll divide up the rest of the house and get to work.”

“What about me?” Harry asked, feeling a bit left out.

“Your group will be in charge of coming up with an idea for the last stall.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry gathered his group of Gryffindors under the largest tree by the Great Lake. “All right. We need an idea for a stall. Something fun.”

“How about a test-your-strength game?” a second year sitting against the tree trunk suggested.

There was a little murmured agreement but mostly people didn’t seem interested. “Any other ideas?” Harry asked.

“What about a demonstration booth? The seventh and eighth years can show us some of their newly learnt spells,” a fifth year girl said.

“I heard that Ravenclaw is doing that,” the boy next to her responded.

Harry frowned slightly and looked around at the assembled Gryffindors. They were all thinking hard, but no one seemed to have any more ideas. After several minutes of silence, Harry spoke again; “Keep thinking about it and we’ll meet again in a couple days.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione sat at a round table in the Gryffindor Common Room with several other upper year students. They all waved their wands and muttered an incantation, creating a large pile of purple somethings in the middle of the table. She smiled at their progress before continuing to work herself.

Harry approached the table and summoned an empty chair from a nearby unoccupied table. He sat down next to his friend and smiled at her when she looked up. “How’s it going?”

“Great!” Hermione exclaimed. “We’re almost done with our stall.”

Harry picked up one of the purple things and eyed it curiously, “A squid plushie?”

Hermione’s smile widened. “The prize.” She chuckled, “My First-years came up with the design. I’m still not sure why a squid, though.” Then her smile faded and she gave the brunet a stern look, “How about your stall?”

Harry frowned. “No ideas yet.”

“You’ve only got three more weeks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry sat on a tree stump by Hagrid’s hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, thinking. He just had to come up with a new idea for a stall for the fair. It was two and a half weeks away and every idea his group came up with got shot down almost immediately. He saw Hagrid round the corner of his hut, followed closely by Lavender and Parvati.

“How about some Crups, Hagrid?” Lavender asked their half-giant professor.

“Sorry, girls, I don’t have any of those.”

“Knarls? Jarveys?” Parvati asked, a bit flustered,

“Don’t have them, either.” Hagrid frowned. “You need something ter race, righ’?” The two Gryffindor girls nodded fervently. “How about some Nogtails? Just got a few last week and they’re wicked fast.”

They walked quickly in the opposite direction, talking animatedly, and Harry frowned after them. It seemed another of the Gryffindor stalls was coming along just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Any new ideas, guys?” Harry asked the assembled group. They were once again sitting under the tree by the lake. Silence met his question and he frowned at the others. “Come on, we’ve only got two weeks to get ready.”

The continued silence was interrupted by someone behind them suddenly yelling “Aguamenti!” They all turned around to see another group of Gryffindor students standing about fifty yards back, clustered around what looked like a large wooden barrel. Dean stood at the front of the group, his wand filling the construction with water. The crowd cheered as the barrel held the water with no leaks.

Harry turned back to his group of students. “All right,” he sighed, “meet back here after classes on Monday and we’ll try again.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry frowned at himself as he made his way down to the Quidditch pitch. He still hadn’t come up with an idea for his stall and the fair was only a week and a half away. He had a headache from all the thinking he’d been doing, so he had decided to take a much needed break. He thought that he would go for a fly to clear his mind.

Harry neared the pitch and saw that it was already being used by another student. “Mind if I join you?” he called out. The person on the broom flew closer and Harry realized it was Draco. “Never mind,” the brunet said, not feeling up to dealing with the other man.

“No. It’s fine,” Draco said, landing. “I’m leaving.”

“Don’t stop just because I showed up.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “The world doesn't revolve around you. I was just finishing up when you arrived.” And with that he walked away.

Harry stared after the Slytherin. There was definitely something different about Draco these days. Harry shrugged his shoulders; he didn’t have time to think about him right now. He had more pressing matters to deal with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After flying for a while Harry headed back to Gryffindor Tower and entered the Eighth-year boy’s dorm. Inside he found Ron and Neville in the middle of the room, surrounded by about a hundred Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes boxes. “What’s all this?” Harry asked his friends.

“Prizes for the wheel,” Neville told him.

“But… how?” Harry was confused. That was an awful lot of WWW stuff. They couldn’t afford all that, could they?

“I told George about the fair and he said Gryffindor had to have the best stall, so he sent over a bunch of free products,” Ron explained.

Harry smiled. “That’s great. Do you think he could help me come up with an idea for my stall?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“All right, everyone. We’ve only got one week left until the fair. We have to figure this out!” Harry told his group of Gryffindors. He was answered with silence, as usual.

Silence until, “I’ve got it!” Ginny exclaimed. “A kissing stall!”

There was much excited murmuring in the crowd and smiles broke out on all the faces. “All right. All in favor of a kissing stall?” Every hand was raised and Harry laughed. “Ok. Ginny you’re in charge of building and scheduling.”

Ginny grinned, almost evilly, and Harry regretted giving her that power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione gathered together all of the Eighth-years on the Tuesday before the fair. “I just want to see how everyone is coming along with their stalls.”

“We’re all done. Finished it this weekend,” Seamus announced, grinning. “We’ve got our schedule all figured out, too.”

“Good. Lavender, Parvati?”

“We’re getting there. Turns out Nogtails are harder to train than we first expected,” Parvati told her.

“But we’ve got it under control,” Lavender said.

“Great. How about you guys, Ron, Neville?”

“Oh, we’re just about done. We’re working on the last few problems as we speak,” Ron said, smiling.

“Good. And Harry?”

Every eye turned to look at the brunet; he had not yet told them what his stall was going to be. “It’s coming along nicely,” he said nonchalantly.

“But what are you doing?” Lavender asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Harry smiled. “But we need all of your help manning it. I’ve got the schedule right here,” he told them before passing out pieces of paper.

“You’re not going to tell us what we’ll be doing?” Dean asked, very curious and a little wary.

“You’ll find out at the fair.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was finally the day of the fair and there had been an excited buzz in the Great Hall during breakfast. Shortly after eating everyone headed down to the grounds to man their stall and have some fun. Harry spent the morning wandering amongst the other house’s stalls, playing games and solving puzzles to win prizes.

Then, finally, it was his turn to man Gryffindor’s most popular stall. Harry walked over to the simple wooden structure that designated the kissing stall. He laughed as he saw Ron and Hermione sat glaring at each other on one side of the small wooden counter. On the other side was a short line of people as well as a group of onlookers, watching with amusement.

Harry watched as Ginny approached the line of waiting students. She then led Hannah Abbott over to Hermione where Hannah proceeded to snog the brunette passionately. Ron’s face grew bright red as he glared daggers at his sister and his girlfriend. “Enough!” Ron called a few seconds later and Hannah reluctantly pulled away from the redhead’s girlfriend.

“Ah, Harry’s here,” Ginny announced and everyone in the crowd turned to look at him. “Alright. Who wants to lock lips with the one and only Savior of the Wizarding World?!?” she asked, as if announcing a rock band about to perform.

Harry rolled his eyes and walked the rest of the way to the stall. Ron and Hermione glared at him as they passed, on their way to have a fight no doubt. Harry took a seat and tried to smile as Ginny brought over the first person from the now long line.

It was some time later, and Harry was definitely regretting allowing Ginny to be in charge. She was having far too much fun encouraging people to “Step right up and snog the Chosen One!” Suddenly the crowd fell quiet. Harry looked around to see what the problem was and his eyes fell on a small group of Eighth-year Slytherins.

Ginny approached the group and Harry groaned. He really did not want to kiss any of them. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Harry head footsteps approach and then stop directly in front of him. The silence of the crowd seemed to deepen. Harry kept his eyes closed until he couldn’t stand the curiosity. He opened his eyes and met grey ones. “Is this a kissing stall or what?” Draco drawled before leaning in and pressing his lips against Harry’s.

Harry was shocked at first, but then before he knew it he was melting into the kiss. The only coherent thought he had the rest of the day was “Draco Malfoy tastes like burnt sugar.”


End file.
